Nita Strauss recently opened up about her early days on the road to rock stardom, recalling the tough realities of touring at just 15 years old.
Today, Nita is a celebrated solo artist, guitarist in Alice Cooper’s band for over a decade, and the first female signature artist with Ibanez, cementing her place as a legendary rock guitarist. But the path to success wasn’t easy. In a candid conversation with Metal Hammer, Nita reminisced about the gritty and often unglamorous early gigs she took to build her career.
Reflecting on her side jobs while trying to break into music, Nita shared:
“I worked at the MAC makeup counter in the mall and took any gig I could find. I played with small bands in LA or worked as an accompanist for singer-songwriters. I even had one gig where I’d go to a hip-hop studio, play guitar riffs, and they’d turn them into beats to sell to rappers. I formed a band called Kill Slowly because I’d always wanted to create a female metal supergroup. I did that with Lia-Fail, and I’m still trying to make it happen.”
Lia-Fail was Nita’s first band, and it was with them that she first hit the road. After winning a Battle of the Bands competition, the band landed their first series of shows on the Warped Tour. But things didn’t go as smoothly as they’d hoped:
“It was tough,” Nita recalled. “We made no money, we were hungry, thirsty, and tired. Two of the girls were old enough to drive, so they took turns while the other two of us navigated. We had no crew, just the four of us. We ate food from gas stations, squeezed into hotel rooms, and outran tornadoes.”
When asked about her parents’ reaction to her hitting the road at such a young age, Nita said, “They were fine with it. They understood the idea of paying your dues. The other girls’ parents… maybe a little less! Ha ha ha! It was tough, but it was still the most fun experience I’ve ever had.”
Looking back on her personality at the time, Nita revealed that she was extremely shy:
“I was painfully shy. I was the kid who sat alone at lunch playing guitar. I didn’t have a boyfriend until my 20s. But when I started playing shows, I realized that playing guitar was my way of communicating. I could express myself onstage in a way I couldn’t in person.”
However, the pressures of the music scene led Nita to use alcohol as a way to cope:
“That’s also why I started drinking at a young age. Drinking was how I could relate to the older kids on the scene. No one wanted to hang out with a 15-year-old girl who was new to everything, but alcohol made me ‘cool.’ That’s how I ended up using alcohol as a crutch for years.”
Despite the struggles, Nita’s early experiences helped shape the artist she is today, teaching her resilience, and giving her memories she’ll never forget.
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